Sometimes Silence
by hippiechick2112
Summary: Master Sergeant Keith Miller ran to the 4077th for assistance, but instead is captured by his commanding officer and was charged with treason. It already seems like nobody can be trusted and can play in this new game of conspiracy. But now, how far is Keith willing to go, in his search for justice and in his dealings with the 4077th?


**Sometimes Silence**

**Note and Disclaimer: Yeah, we all know that we don't own _M*A*S*H_. Just thought that I'd write a new story, but it's something a little different and runs on the same vein as my other Margaret story. I know the actions seemed a little sudden, but I do hope you all enjoy it!**

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There is, perhaps, some justice in trying to get your commanding officer arrested for treason or trying to get something righted from the wrong, to make your life somewhat better. At least, that was what Master Sergeant Keith Miller thought as he walked to the closet place he could call a shelter (and a home away from home really), only some yards away from his last hideout, Rosie's Bar. Out on leave and probably going to be back to the front lines soon enough (he only had forty-eight hours before shells could fly over him again), the master sergeant was already walking out on a thin thread. After all, he was going to the one place he thought he had some sanctuary…and getting a little drunk in the process before heading out, of course.

It had been some months, Keith thought sullenly as he shook his drunken head of flooding past memories, since he had been to the 4077th. Wounded three times already and nothing to show for it (even when he saved his unit from a raid from the North Koreans, all single-handedly), Keith had been treated decently there all three times and was welcomed several times to the movies, food and drinks there was.

Friendly with some of the doctors in the Swamp (and ignoring the last, snobbish one named Charles Winchester, whom nobody seemed to like), Keith was also keen on seeing someone more special than those doctors were. His angel of mercy, as it was (even if she did not know it herself), was one Major Margaret Houlihan, the head nurse of the unit. She was always encouraging him to do everything possible to better himself and his life, whether it was being positive or getting his paperwork straightened out. While not talking to her about his turbulent life, as it were, Keith was smitten with the blonde nurse who always showed him nothing but kindness and charity (even a sponge bath or two). Even if Margaret Houlihan did not share his feelings, Keith was sure to find some time with her, somehow worship her shadow if he could.

_Or tell her how I feel, whichever comes first._

It was also there at the 4077th that Keith knew that there was some sort of help. Other than Margaret Houlihan helping him with some Army regulations and getting past the red tape, Colonel Potter was always there. Fatherly in every way that his own stepfather was not (because his absent father could not care less about him and ran off before he was born), Keith saw him as not only his savior, but also his ticket to Seoul, where he can report the incidents he saw without bias, without anyone trying to bury him. Not to mention, he could get the help he desperately needed, without his commanding officer pushing the buttons that made him out to be the bad guy. He knew that his only chance lay with the 4077th and its commanding officer and gaining some sympathy in the process.

After running under the unit's infamous sign as he staggered out of Rosie's Bar ("Best Care Anywhere" and Keith knew it), Keith beelined for Colonel Potter's office and was almost there, to his salvation. If he got there in time (and time is always running short in Korea), before his own commanding officer knew where he was, then he could be safe.

Before long, just as he was nearing Colonel Potter's office, Keith ran into two people he did not want to see at the moment. And they made the time run rather slowly.

"Keith, old buddy, what brings you here?" Hawkeye Pierce laughed loudly, wrapping his shaking arm around Keith. It was obvious that he was off duty and drunk.

"Yeah, Keith, what brings you here?" BJ Hunnicutt asked him as he, too, wrapped his arm around Keith. He was drunk as well.

"Well, you two, I kinda need to see –" Keith began with some hesitation in his voice.

"Oh, come on, you need to get a drink," Hawkeye insisted as he and BJ navigated Keith to the Swamp instead of Colonel Potter's office. "Drinks are on us."

"But I just had a few down the road," Keith protested, breaking away from the two doctors in frustration. "I was just at Rosie's last night and today."

"At Rosie's?" Hawkeye stopped, incredulous and appearing to be highly insulted. "And you didn't invite us? How passé! Don't you think, Beej?"

Acting just as rude as their tentmate Charles, BJ stuck his own red nose in the air and folded his arm stubbornly. "Yes, indeed, my dear Hawkeye. It is outdated to be going to Rosie's. It's better to be drinking from our swill and becoming the state in which you want to be in."

"What state was that again?" Hawkeye asked.

"Ok, guys, enough for now," Keith said impatiently, backing away as another sharp memory twisted his stomach into tight knots. "I need to see Colonel Potter, on the double. This is super important, nothing that you guys can help with. Just stay away and let me conduct my own business."

"See, Hawk? He needs no help from us getting into that state of states again," BJ slurred, laughing finally.

"Come on, you two, this is serious," Keith protested again, this time in a somewhat whiny voice, starting to run the other way. "I need to get into his office pronto because I have something he can help me with."

"Help you with what, Master Sergeant?" The cool voice of Margaret Houlihan quickly filled Keith's ears, almost making him swoon childishly before he could even move. "I heard your arrival here caused quite a drunken stir, so don't mind these two hooligans. You've been here, for what, not even five minutes? And those two want you to drink with them?"

"Oh, no, I usually don't drink now," Keith easily lied, knowing the many times he had gotten drunk with the two from the Swamp and his tenure down the road. "I just needed to get back to what I was – I mean, Major, what I got to do – well, I need to see Colonel Potter, Ma'am."

Embarrassed, Keith blushed, but not without the humiliation that came from Hawkeye and BJ. And he knew that he was not getting any breaks.

"So, we're all in the hots for Hot Lips Houlihan?" Hawkeye asked, encircling Keith with his arm again.

"Don't know what to say, when to say it?" BJ continued.

"In what state?" Hawkeye added.

"Oh, enough of that, you two," Margaret fumed, almost much to Keith's chagrin (wanting to keep the scene going, so more time was spent with the major). "You, come with me. We can leave these two to their own devices."

It was almost surreal to Keith, much as he despised being part of what he thought was a foolish fantasy. He felt his hand being taken, the same dirty hand that killed what he was told was the enemy, and was led towards Colonel Potter's office by his own angel. He was only feet away, just _seconds_ away, from getting the truth out to someone and some assistance received. He knew that the nightmare he had to live in for so long was now turning his way for once. It was almost like a dream that would never have him waking in sweat, wanting more to be corrected. It was the dream he was anticipating his whole life.

With such an angel on his side, Keith thought nothing could go wrong. However, as the pair walked away from a drunk BJ and Hawkeye, they both heard a familiar voice. While Margaret was not startled by it and only ignored it, Keith was and his ears perked up. It was the voice that turned his dream into something akin to a living hell on Earth. It would make his mission now unfeasible and make his leave futile.

As Keith and Margaret turned around, they saw the figure of Colonel Brett Rifkin before them. Rifkin was Keith's commanding officer, the same man that had committed treason and had, for so long, turned his comrades into his enemies. Rifkin had made others turn away from him, especially those who had loved him, and made him comrades hate him. He made Keith's stay in Korea unbearable to live with.

"Major, did you hear what I said?" Rifkin asked Margaret loudly, clearly seeing that both of them were not listening to him. "I said, hand over the man or I'm going to shoot."

"What do you mean, Colonel?" Margaret inquired innocently enough, outraged by the statement. "Why, he's coming with me to see Colonel Potter. Do you need to come along?"

"No, Major," Rifkin replied, soon flanked with MP's with guns aimed at Keith. "I need this man. He is now wanted in questioning for committing treason against the United States. Major, you are holding the hand of a traitor."


End file.
